You have to get to work or class and even if you overslept you still need to look decent. You may need some new cosmetic incentives to hurry it up in the bathroom every morning (or afternoon, and no I have not forgotten the night shift). Here are some cute new products all ready to help you get out the door that much quicker.

Let’s start from the top: brows. Brow tutorials are all over instagram, so even people who don’t care about makeup will be looking at yours. Gerard Cosmetics has this gorgeous little Brow Bar To Go ($28) compact, complete with mirror. You get two rich, blendable powders to create your colors and a pot of brow wax to seal the color in all day. You can also use the powders for eye shadow and for contouring if you’re into that. Comes in blonde to brunette and medium to ebony.

For the false eyelash challenged, KISS products came up with the Kiss Lash 101 ($5.99).It’s a kit to help you apply falsies so that they look believable. You get a measuring tool, lash scissors, eyelashes…everything you need to learn how to work with your eye shape and how to enhance them with lashes. If you’re invested in wearing them, this kit can help you make the application process way quicker. Kiss Strip Lash Adhesive in black ($3.99) is also part of making the process easier. The black color will help lashes blend in with eyeliner.

Lipstick is an instant makeover, so splurging on a rich, moisturizing new liquid lipstick can only be a win. NARS Cosmetics has the new Velvet Lip Glide ($26) which is a hybrid born of lipstick and lipgloss. Containing the NARS signature saturated color and enriched with lip softening oil infusion complex, it’s a 2 second image update with a doe foot applicator. No. 54, Toy and Unspeakable are my (current) faves, but you can shop the whole color collection here.

Sometimes it is just too much trouble to do your nails, but yet you need to get them done. Impress Manicure has some cute new designs for fall that not only get your nails done in minutes, but they feature some sweet nail art. The imPRESS Manicure ($6.99) feature 30 faux nails ( 6 color, 6 accent) in 12 sizes. There’s no glue, just a Safehold Adhesive Technology, so you won’t mess up your nails. but you still get gel nail shine.These sets are Gossip Girl, Next Wave and Shake It Up. You can find imPRESS at stores like walgreens, Target and Walmart.

Over the course of the last few years of blogging and testing out tons of haircare products, I figured out that argan oil is my jam. As per usual, I started getting curious about why argan oil has become such a staple, when I can distinctly remember a time not too long ago when no one had ever heard of it. So before we talk about HSI Professional Argan Oil haircare, we’ll take a slight detour to Morocco where the oil originates.

The argan oil that we use in hair and skincare today starts out as the fruit of the Argan tree in Morocco. The argan nut contains the kernels and it’s the kernels that contain the oil. The flesh of the nut is either dried before kernels are extracted, or peeled away from kernels to be used as animal feed. Then the oil gets extracted from the kernels. Since the process can’t be mechanized, this is still done by hand right now in 2016. The oil used in cosmetics comes from unroasted kernels. Argan oil is also used in Moroccan cooking, but that comes from roasted kernels, since roasting enhances the nutty flavors.

The reason that people love using argan oil is that it’s good for your whole body. You can use it as a facial cleanser, moisturizer, cuticle oil and hair conditioner. You can mix it with various ingredients to create DIY beauty products, like the argan oil and apple cider vinegar pre-shampoo treatment I love making. The oil contains vitamin E and omega 6 fatty acids, as well as antioxidants. 100% argan oil is the ingredient you’re looking for on labels.

HSI Professional uses argan oil in it’s Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner to enrich and beautify all hair textures. The Smoothing Shampoo ($17) is sulfate free and enriched with an alphabet full of vitamins (A, B, C and D) and will leave hair feeling squeaky clean. The rich formulas is meant to help you extend the life of your color and salon treatments. The Smoothing Conditioner ($18) detangles on contact, re-hydrates freshly washed hair and leaves hair silkily softened. Products like these use argan oil as an ingredient to infuse hair with shine and resilience.

If you use argan oil for natural hair, you may be interested in HSI’s Argan Oil Smoothing Hair Mask ($25). A creamy deep conditioning treatment, it restores moisture and fights down the frizz. The argan oil in the formula is key to repairing damage done to hair from heat treatments and coloring. It also contains hydrolized keratin and collagen amino acids for resilience and shine.The mask is great on all hair textures, but thirsty curls are always in need of a good moisturizing mask.

Argan oil’s healing properties come into play when used in HSI’s Heath Protectant Spray and Leave-in Hair Treatment. If you’re regularly using heat styling tools, your hair will probably end up looking fried if you don’t take precautions. HSI’s Argan Oil Heat Protectant ($14.99) protects your hair (or extensions) up to 450 degrees. Spray it on before heat styling to keep hair moisturized and smooth. The Argan Oil Leave-In Treatment ($34.00) combines organic argan oil and essential nutrients to create a lightweight, non-greasy leave in conditioner that can work with or instead of the heat protectant. The treatment is for all hair textures, and leaves hair with a healthy shine.

While there are tons of miracle ingredients on the market, argan oil proves over and over again that it’s the best ingredient for hydrating dry hair and repairing hair that’s been damaged by chemicals and heat styling. It’s great for people with curly, kinky or textured hair which is always in need of nurturing and moisture. You can regularly massage scalp with argan oil to grow hair. And while the popularity of the product means using more of the oil, the Argan forest is Morocco was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1998, so the production of the oil employs local labor and is also a sustainable business.

So in 2014/2015 I was all about my baking business, code name Chubby Chubs. After spending the summer in the street, the moving it to Etsy and actually scoring a few orders, I packed it in because I wanted to rethink the strategy and work on some other things.

So in addition to working more on my blog and writing projects, I re-tooled my online store at Society 6. I posted more images and designs, so now I’m a blogger/write/photographer/tshirt and legging designer. Yes, this is my collection of leggings. I kind of love them. I actually sold some stuff this year, which is gratifying. Yay!

I started branching out and trying my hand at real tshirt designing, more graphic, less image and this week two of my designs were featured on tshirt blog, www.cottonable.com.

I designed a capsule collection around this LIFE Matters design, and the rainbow version is the one they wrote up. You can check out the lyrical review here.

They also reviewed my Basic Boss design ( I hate the way people throw around the phrase ‘basic bitch’. whose idea is that? it has zero chill and it’s misogynistic and snobby.) which you can read here.

Good news, guys! And I literally mean…guys. Agadir Argan Oil, the company that brings us amazing Argan Oil infused haircare, has created a line of grooming products just for the gentleman. Just in time for the back to school season, when you’re high school and college age men need a a care package.

“We wanted to offer something just for the men, a complete head-to-toe grooming experience” say co- founders, Jack and Paul Anthony Bogosian. “Something that would have an exotic, yet sincere aroma to those wanting a touch of power and luxury. The enticing blend of Oud Wood, Argan Oil, Panthenol, and Biotin leads to a sophisticated and incredible product line. We wanted to make sure we had a variety of items to offer our new clientele.”

Do tell!

The one item you definitely want is this massive bottle of Agadir Men Hair & Body Wash ($24). Smelling intoxicatingly like Oud Woood (it really does smell amazing. opened the cap and wanted to marry it), which is formulated to energize and hydrate so skin and hair don’t dry out. Also, he won’t have to mess around with additional scent, another time saver. Definitely a win when you’re crunched for time and have to shower, dress, eat and get to class. It’s also a big, 17 ounce plastic bottle shaped like a flask, which is fun. Give him this and leave him alone until he asks for a refill. Agadir for Men’s Firm Hold Styling Gel ($20) and Fiber Texturizer ($24) are all the product you need for work and date prep. The styling gel is a non-alchohol formula meant to be non-drying to hair and scalp, but strong enough to hold even the thinnest hair (or thickest) in place. The texturizer contains both sunflower seed and argan oil to moisturize as it holds. Great for bed head looks.

If you’re going to have a beard, keep it groomed and shiny! Agadir Men has a great Beard Oil ($30) with argan and grapeseed oil, and scented with oud wood. The oil soothes the skin around and under your beard as well.

Links à la Mode, September 22nd

Sure, New York Fashion Week may have ended a week ago, but that doesn’t mean bloggers are ready to stop talking about it. This week, we’ve got runway recaps, street style do’s, and advice from a fashion week intern for the ultimate inside scoop of what it’s like to work NYFW!

According to this week’s lineup, bold prints are a must this season and florals aren’t exclusively a Spring/Summer print. Who knew? Our daring bloggers are extending this trend an extra season and we can’t say we’re mad about it! The chunky heeled sandal is also a winner this week. While sandals are typically reserved for the Summer months, an earthy color or velvety fabric can transform this shoe into one just right for stepping into Fall. Sandals aren’t the only undying trend; off-the-shoulder tops and dresses seem to be here to stay as well.

It’s September! Fall is that delicious time when summer ends (boo hoo) but it’s just about to get cool enough to break out your new fall clothes. It’s also time for all the kids to go back to school. Backpack, pencils, notebooks and …skincare? Budding brand Ottilie & Lulu has created a skincare system especially for tweens (8-12 year olds as they are known to parents) which is targeted at creating good habits of self care, as well as trying to prevent some of the issues that may come up when they enter puberty officially.

The Morning & Night Gel Cleanser ($10) is a step up from regular bar soap and baby shampoo. It’s a mix of aloe vera juice, witch haze extract and mandarin essential oil. It’s a non-abrasive, gentle cleanser for delicate skin. This should be followed up by a smoothing on a little dab of the Morning Pure Facial Moisturizer ($14.50), which features softening shea butter and calendula extract. Moisturizer may seem a bit frou frou for a kid, but how different is using this when some people smooth on vaseline or baby oil on a child’s skin to moisturize and protect? This way, they can imitate older siblings and parents with their own beauty products and feel confident in taking care of themselves. Win-win!

As your little beauty maven gets older, you can add in the Spot Blemish Treatment ($14.50) which uses tea tree oil and white willow bark among other things to deal newly forming pimples. The oil free, PABA free, water-resistant, non-irritating formula used in the Everyday Facial Moisturizer & Sunscreen ($18.50) is perfect for protecting young skin from harmful UV rays. It is never too young to learn about sunscreen, and skin cancer protection.

If you buy nothing else from the new Ottilie & Lulu skincare collection, start with a purchase of the Clean Skin Face Wipes ($10) which your tween can keep in their bathroom or gym locker. It could be the gateway product to realizing that properly cleaned skin makes you feel confident and attractive. Kids are already used to adults wiping their faces, but this gives them the responsibility and makes it their own ‘thing’.